Unfortunately there are no places anywhere near me that sell the E-PL1 or the GF1. Most of the cameras I have purchased over the years have been through B&H.

Are you sure? Best Buy carries the E-PL1, but unfortunately not the GF1. But if you're mainly interested in the E-PL1, spending a bit of time with it at a BB should give you an idea of whether the performance will be problematic for your style of shooting or not.

. . . The Best Buy here where I live in upstate NY doesn't carry the E-PL1. Aside from a slew of P&S's, there were three different Canon DSLR's (two Rebels and the 50D) and one Nikon D3000. Last time I looked was about a week ago.

We have a few different locations here, and they're not always in te same spot. Sometimes the newer cameras are actually in a case, not out with the other cameras.
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Sam Bennett -
http://www.swiftbennett.com